


And In the End (A New Chance Appears)

by Hililmissy



Series: Crossover Pairings & Fic [1]
Category: Charmed (TV 1998), Naruto
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, An epilogue to a fanfiction I haven't written, Charmed doesn't even feature but Payton is from that universe so this is a crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Gen, Like just after the war has ended, Magic, No Charmed knowledge required, Onoki Has Feelings About Everything, Payton is Phoebe and Cole's unborn child, Payton is technically not an OC but she is an AU of a character who dies as a foetus so she counts, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, Shinobi-Civilian Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22318561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hililmissy/pseuds/Hililmissy
Summary: She was grinning now but… Ōnoki had heard the shearing grief in her voice, seen it in the lines around her eyes. He heard "I should have been there" and felt it resonate within him because he’d been carrying the same weight since he’d learned that Rōshi was gone. He doesn’t know this woman or how a civilian came to master fūinjutsu or how she came to know and love his son or how she became involved in the war, but he can empathise with her.At the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Onoki needs to reconnect with his son.
Relationships: Onoki and Roshi, Onoki/OC (Background), Roshi/OC
Series: Crossover Pairings & Fic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1606411
Kudos: 1





	And In the End (A New Chance Appears)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to peak rarepair crossover pair Hell. Why do I do this to myself? The dead jinchuriki are resurrected at the end of war because I said so.  
> The age difference isn't really mentioned but it is there and I know it can be a squeamish topic so it's tagged. But they are all consenting adults here.

Ōnoki could feel his body threatening to give up as he walked – shuffled, really, though he’d never say that – with the aid of Kurotsuchi toward the camp of resurrected jinchūriki. This was probably a bad idea he thought, but the sheer relief the end of the utter surrealistic absurdity of the Fourth Great Shinobi War had imbued in him had made it easy to tag along with his granddaughter when she’d declared she was going to find her uncle.

 _His son. Alive._ It was an unexpected blessing to a loss he’d done his damn best to ignore. When he’d received the report that the Yonbi jinchūriki had been captured by Akatsuki, all those months ago, he’d convinced himself that the unsettled feeling in his chest was due to the loss of a valuable weapon. Not the grief and horror of losing his eldest son, however strained their relationship was.

Despite his best efforts it had been impossible not to think of him throughout all of this. Especially having watched the Fifth Kazekage confront the father who made him into a weapon. Impossible not to remember Rōshi - short, stubborn, impulsive, obstinate, _angry_. So like himself.

But now the war was over, his son lived and by the gods Ōnoki was going to see him. Maybe, hopefully, start the process of healing the rift between them. The one he’d started by allowing Mū to seal the Yonbi into his young son.

He could see the bright red of his hair – a gift from his Uzumaki maternal grandmother, one that had skipped the rest of the family – as he stood with his back to them peeling off his armour. From this distance, Ōnoki couldn’t spot any major injuries. A relief, though it didn’t surprise him that Rōshi had thrown himself into the fight. Even if he couldn’t really claim familiarity with him, can’t quite recall when he saw him last. Probably during the Third Great Shinobi War or just after it. Otherwise Rōshi stayed out of Iwa and Ōnoki’s knowledge of his location and actions came from reports and rumours.

He grit his teeth against the regret that rolled through him. How had he let things go so wrong? Too old, too set in his ways, too damn stubborn. _No more_ , he vowed. This war had changed a lot of things. Let his relationship with his son be one of them. He quickened his steps as best as he was able, ignoring the increased ache. Close enough to call out now-

“Rōshi!” Ōnoki turned with his son to see an unfamiliar woman sprinting towards them. To his surprise, Rōshi quickly shed the last piece of his armour and stepped to meet the woman as she threw her arms around him in a fierce embrace. As they held each other Ōnoki could hear the woman crying faintly.

“Rōshi,” she repeated, subdued but no less intent. Rōshi patted her back, withdrawing just enough to give her an onceover that Ōnoki absently noted as a check for injuries. Finding nothing, he met her eyes and smiled. He opened his mouth but the woman was faster.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Rōshi. _I should have been there_.” Her voice cracked on a hiccup-sob. Rōshi frowned, eyebrows furrowing, before sighing and settling his grip more firmly on her shoulders.

“O hush now. Shoulda known you’d do this to yourself. Listen to me, girl and listen good. I went for a walk. I was attacked. I lost. That’s the life. And Payton – listen! – that. Ain’t. Your. Fault. You ain’t my keeper and you ain’t my bodyguard. It was bad luck that they attacked when I was alone, but there’s no guarantee that you being there woulda made a difference. They were powerful shinobi… And I’d’ve tried to keep ‘em away from you, you gotta know that by now.”

As the woman, Payton presumably, sniffled and wiped away tears and nodded acceptance with a faint smile, Ōnoki processed the impromptu speech. It was the most he’d had heard Rōshi say in years. Enlightening and most unexpected – he couldn’t recall a single report that even hinted at his son having a romantic partner, which was clearly what Payton was to him. It was evident in the way he held and regarded her, suffused with camaraderie and a gruff tenderness that his status as a jinchūriki had kept him from showing to his fellow Iwa-nin, even if his speech hadn’t already made it obvious. A civilian too – she wore neither headband nor uniform. How bewildering. 

The two continued to stare at each other, Payton’s expression tinged with desperate awe. Her gaze traversed Rōshi’s features as if she couldn’t believe he was actually stood before her. Rōshi let out an amused sound and slid his hand upwards to cup her cheek.

“C’mere,” he murmured, urging her head down. She went readily, and their lips met in a kiss that straddled the border between passionate and indecent.

 _Definitely romantic partner_ , Ōnoki thought sardonically. There was _a_ _lot_ of feeling being poured into that kiss. At his side, Kurotsuchi shifted, patience gone. In that way, she was rather like her uncle.

“Hey oji-san,” she called loudly, jolting the two lovers apart. “Who’d have thought you’d get yourself a girlfriend, old man?”

Rōshi peered at Kurotsuchi with mild confusion. If he noticed Ōnoki at her side, he didn’t show it.

“Kuro-chan?” He asked. He turned more fully towards them, though he continued to cup Payton’s elbow.

“Who are you calling –chan?” Kurotsuchi snarled even as she ducked under Rōshi’s attempted head pat to embrace him. “I’m an adult now, you know. You’ve been gone too long, oji-san.” The hurt under her fierce tone was obvious, and Rōshi smiled grimly as he tightened his free arm around her. Even though he’d mostly been away from the village when Kurotsuchi was young, they’d developed a close relationship the few times he had been in Iwa. He’d been the one to start her on her Lava Release training.

“Sorry about that, brat.”

“Don’t call me a brat!” She pushed away from him with a fierce scowl. Rōshi chuckled, and at his side Ōnoki could see that Payton was also amused by the exchange. Her eyes still hadn’t moved from Rōshi’s face though, and there was an edge in her gaze that told Ōnoki that anyone who attempted to separate the two would be pulling Rōshi from her dead hands, civilian or no. His gaze lingered on ink-stained fingers, recalling being told that a civilian skilled in fūinjutsu had joined the Sealing Division. Opinions and commentary rose in his throat – and he shoved them down. Rōshi was a grown man, nearly fifty, and Ōnoki had long lost the right to express disapproval or exert influence over his life choices.

He looked away from the young woman and found Rōshi staring down at him, his features schooled into a stern, if not actively hostile, mask.

“Old man.” He greeted. Ōnoki swallowed his characteristic ire at the disrespect.

“Rōshi. I’m pleased to see you fit and well.” Regret bloomed again at his eldest son’s raised eyebrow.

“Can’t be a weapon for Iwa as a corpse, I suppose.” His son mused with a cynical twist of his lips. “We’ll be goin’ back to how things were, I take it?”

Ōnoki paused before responding, feeling three pairs of eyes on him. He’d made more important speeches to far bigger crowds that had felt less monumental than this.

“I don’t think so,” he opted for finally and he could almost hear Rōshi’s sharp inhale, the surging thoughts of _is he going to attack do I need to move? To defend?_ And it hurt, how justified his distrust was. Instinct caused Ōnoki to half-turn to keep his expression hidden.

“A lot of things will be changing soon, I think. Considering the vital roles the Fifth Kazekage and Naruto Uzumaki played in our victory here, I’m pretty confident that attitudes to jinchūriki will be one of them. In the face of that I’m sure we can come up with a more agreeable… arrangement.” He cast his son a dim, hopeful smile. Rōshi’s expression was hard to read but Ōnoki was sure he could pick out shock… and a faint, grudging hope. At his side, Payton was beaming.

Rōshi cast his gaze back at her, and let out a faint snort at her expression. Ōnoki watched a silent conversation pass between them for a few seconds, which ended with Payton shrugging and Rōshi turning back to him to say, “We ain’t settled on a plan yet.” Though his expression had lost most of its unfriendliness, his tone dared Ōnoki to challenge the _we_. He wouldn’t. They were clearly a package deal, and if accepting a young civilian woman as a daughter-in-law was the price to getting the chance to reconcile with his firstborn, Ōnoki was happy to pay it. Hasu would be thrilled. His wife had a merchant background – she’d relish no longer being the only non-nin in the family. Especially if the woman brought Rōshi home to her. 

Happy thoughts, Ōnoki thought. It said a lot to what he’d experienced during this conflict that it wasn’t entirely cynically. Even if the world didn’t change as he expected and hoped, he _had_ and he was determined to make it count.

He turned to start the journey back to the Iwa camp he and his family had settled in.

“Well, plans take time to develop.” He stated sagely. “Until such time as you have settled on one, you are welcome to join us in the Iwa camp. You and your lovely lady, of course.” She was grinning now but… Ōnoki had heard the shearing grief in her voice, seen it in the lines around her eyes. He heard _I should have been there_ and felt it resonate within him because he’d been carrying the same weight since he’d learned that Rōshi was gone. He doesn’t know this woman or how a civilian came to master fūinjutsu or how she came to know and love his son or how she became involved in the war, but he can empathise with her. He can give them a relatively safe and comfortable place to finish what promises to be an intense reunion.

And, hopefully, he’ll have the chance to learn the rest. For now, it’s enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> I want to write more (like a whole novel) for Payton/Roshi but as I am incapable of plot, this is what I've got.  
> Essentially their relationship boils down to:  
> 1) Meet, experience instant physical attraction, travel together for plot (??) reasons.  
> 2) Have semi-regular no strings, no feelings sex.  
> 3) Both develop feelings anyway. Payton deals with this better than Roshi, who is a gruff, grumpy marshmallow.  
> 4) They eventually start a relationship.  
> 5) Roshi: this is... really nice?? I love you, brat. 
> 
> Now usually Roshi is a tsundere, gruff-outside-loving-inside, what do you mean you're cold you idiot while covering his lover in coats and scarfs kinda guy, but as he is comforting his grieving partner after he's been dead for months, he's let loose his affectionate side here. He's a mature guy, he can do that.


End file.
